PAGE ONE -- Long Record For One Cop In Beating

Susan Sward, Bill Wallace, Chronicle Staff Writers

Published 4:00 am, Friday, June 9, 1995

One of the San Francisco police officers injured in the fight that preceded the death of parolee Aaron Williams was once sharply criticized by a federal appeals court for his brutality record as an Oakland police officer, according to records obtained by The Chronicle.

The case was one of several that raised serious questions about the performance of officer Marc Andaya, who joined the San Francisco police force one year ago and was one of the 12 officers involved in the fight to subdue the 35-year- old Williams, who died in police custody Sunday.

Witnesses have said some officers continued to beat and kick Williams after he was subdued, handcuffed and placed in leg restraints on the street outside his Western Addition flat.

Yesterday, a search of court records in Oakland revealed that a fourth officer, Andaya, has a lengthy record of excessive force allegations. In a 1985 case, he was suspended for 30 days for choking a handcuffed suspect and lifting him off the ground. In a 1991 incident, Andaya was sued by a man who suffered four broken ribs and chipped teeth during an arrest for charges that were later dismissed. In a sealed, out-of-court settle-

ment, the city of Oakland later paid the man a substantial sum.

One of the most damaging documents involving Andaya is an internal Oakland police memo written by Captain Edward Smith in June 1985. In it, Smith details Andaya's "cowboy" reputation and cites examples of bizarre behavior described by fellow officers.

Smith noted that Andaya told his supervising sergeant he "had learned to rely on himself, his gun, and 'stick' (baton) to take care of himself." Smith also reported that five officers on separate occasions expressed concerns about Andaya's behavior and said he made them "nervous."

Among other things, officers said Andaya pointed an empty gun at his head and pulled the trigger several times in front of a roomful of rookies at Oakland's police academy, verbally abused and physically intimidated people while on patrol, and often expressed his frustration at orders he did not like by slamming inanimate objects with his police baton.

It is not known when or why Andaya left the Oakland department or whether San Francisco police were aware of Andaya's record when they hired him in May 1994.

OFFICER INJURED

Chief Ribera did not return The Chronicle's calls about the Williams' case yesterday. Andaya, who suffered a fractured knee and a bite on his inner thigh in the incident, is on disability leave and could not be reached for comment.

Andaya's reputation was discussed by the U.S. Court of Appeals in connection with a wrongful death lawsuit. The court noted in a 1992 opinion: "Andaya has a history of citizen complaints of excessive force, a reputation for being quick-tempered and has been at the center of several incidents involving inappropriate use of his firearm."

The federal appeals court ordered a lower court to hear the case against Andaya, and last year a jury found in Andaya's favor, said a source who declined to be identified. The source said that the jury was not allowed to learn about Andaya's other incidents of alleged misconduct because U.S. District Court Judge Samuel Conti had barred that information from being used as evidence.

In the lawsuit, the family of a man shot to death by Andaya alleged that the officer killed the victim and then gave a false account of the events leading up to the shooting, the source said.

In the 1985 case in which Andaya was suspended, Oakland City Manager Henry Gardner wrote Andaya that when an arrested man refused to be photographed, "Outside the hospital you grabbed the handcuffed subject by the throat with both hands and lifted him off the ground about six inches on three occasions. During this choking and lifting action, you threatened to kill the prisoner."

San Francisco's decision to hire Andaya despite his record brought sharp criticism from Robert Kroll, one of the Oakland attorneys for the Williams family.

"It appears that San Francisco took someone who was well known among fellow Oakland officers for abusing even mildly uncooperative suspects, and they put him with a gun in his hand back on the streets of San Francisco," Kroll said.

POLICE REPORT

A police report on the Williams case stated that Andaya and a fellow officer pulled up to the scene when the struggle with Williams was already under way and that they entered the fray. At one point, the report said, "Officer Andaya was holding the cuffs (already placed on Williams), pulling Williams' arms toward his head."

"Certainly, the written (department) guidelines that apply toward handling agitated persons were not followed in this particular instance," said homicide inspector Jim Bergstrom, in an interview on KQED's Forum radio talk show yesterday.

Bergstrom is a lead investigator in the Police Department's probe of the Williams incident. He did not elaborate on his comment other than to say that another unit in the department is looking into that aspect of the case.

Asked during the program whether police could conduct an impartial investigation, Bergstrom said: "If I find criminality on the part of police officers, I am not going to hide it. I have arrested police officers in the past for crimes, and I am not shy about doing it if need be. But if I don't find it, I don't find it."

Bergstrom also emphasized that he was focusing on the fact that Williams' sister, Kimberly, had acknowledged in two police interviews the night of her brother's death that Williams "attacked the police."

Kimberly Williams said yesterday, however, that she signed a police-written statement (which includes the reference to her brother attacking police) without paying attention to its content because police had "blackmailed" her by threatening that social workers would take away her three young children unless she made "a good report."

Bergstrom said on the radio show that he could not "address her backpedaling" and did not plan "to reinterview her unless she'd like me to."

On Wednesday, U.S. Attorney Michael Yamaguchi called on the FBI to investigate the case -- a move Mayor Frank Jordan said yesterday that he welcomed.

In further developments yesterday, police released their preliminary report and printed account of officers' computer communications as they chased Williams, fought with him and put him in handcuffs and leg restraints before transporting him to Richmond Station.

In her written report, officer Catharine Bianchi described the encounter as a "violent struggle." She said Williams said "Mommy, Mommy" when she told him to quit fighting.

Bianchi's report makes no mention of the use of pepper spray on Williams, but police have said that he was sprayed with the liquid chemical agent two and possibly three times. Medical Examiner Boyd Stephens has said he has not ruled out pepper spray as a possible contributing cause of death.

Since the San Francisco Police Commission approved its use last August, police records show that pepper spray had been used 35 times prior to the Williams case. Police Lieutenant Ed Springer said in those instances there were no medical complications and the spray subdued suspects 85 per cent of the time.

PRIVATE AUTOPSY

Williams family lawyer Kroll said that an autopsy performed Wednesday by a pathologist hired by the family found "evidence of pepper spray in Aaron's membranes" and also found "blunt force trauma" to his head, face and upper torso. Stephens has said Williams suffered superficial contusions on his head, abdomen and several other regions.

The material released yesterday gives the first precise account of incidents that occurred before Williams was pronounced dead at 11:40 p.m. Sunday at Richmond Station. The communications record begins at 10:33 p.m. with word of a burglary at a veterinary store at Sutter and Lyon streets. Ten minutes later, Williams was reported running into his apartment several blocks away at 2763 Bush Street in the Western Addition.

At 10:45 p.m. officers called up to Williams, considered a suspect in the burglary, "Talkin' to him from window, but he is refusing to come down," the record states.

At 10:57 p.m., Williams was described as "secure" and Richmond Station was advised "of what to expect" when he was transported there.

At 11:17 p.m. came the grim news: "This is med emergency -- subject . . . may not be breathing."

There is no explanation in the police documents about why the official pronouncement of death did not come until 11:40 p.m. when a doctor at San Francisco General Hospital, who read medical data transmitted electronically to him by paramedics, announced his conclusion.